Cake-tray or the like



April 0, 1956 P. H. NOTTAGE CAKE-TRAY OR THE LIKE Filed Feb. 2, 1951 V....Z.II.ZIZT.Z:ILZZZII.I' 21:2: Y

INVENTOR. Em A. #0 7-7465 BY 54% ATTORNEY.

United States Patent C CAKE-TRAY OR THE LIKE Paul H. Nottage, Scarsdale, N. Y. Application February 2, 1951, Serial No. 209,148

3 Claims. (Cl. 229-14) The present invention relates to a cake-tray or the like and is more particularly directed toward cake-trays made of corrugated paper and suitable for use in holding of cakes and the like for display purposes and in cakeboxes.

It has been customary to make cake-trays in the form of round discs, oblongs and in other suitable shapes, from a paper product having two outside smooth plies and an intermediate corrugated ply. Such cake-trays are smooth top and bottom so that the cake tends to slide off the tray, and such cake-trays are stifi in only one direction. They bend readily along the corrugations. According to the present invention, the cake-trays are made from a paper product which has corrugated faces, and the corrugations are at right angles to one another so as to impart stifiness to the cake-tray as well as roughness for engagement with the bottom of the cake resting upon it.

The accompanying drawings show, for purposes of illustrating the present invention, several embodiments in which the invention may take form, it being understood that the drawings are illustrative of the invention rather than limiting the same.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cake-tray with parts broken away;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional cake-box, showing a tray in use;

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Figure Figures 4 and 5 are transverse sectional views at right angles to one another and taken along the lines 44 and 5-5, respectively, of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 1, illustrating a combined cake-tray and aligning ring assembled together;

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6 showing the cake-tray and ring separated;

Figure 8 is a view illustrating the ring in a cake-box and the cake-tray supporting a cake; and

Figure 9 is a perspective view illustrating a modified form of a cake-tray.

In the drawings, the cake-trays are shown round, but they may be any shape depending upon the shape of the cake or other pastry to be supported. The cake-tray T shown in Figs. 1, 4 and 5 employs two corrugated sheets 10 and 11. The sheet 10 is secured to a flat sheet 12 by adhesive indicated at 13, and the corrugated sheet 11 is similarly secured to a sheet 14 by adhesive indicated at 15. The sheets 12 and 14 are secured together by adhesive indicated at 16. This product is made by first forming two webs of single face, backed corrugated paper, then cutting the webs and arranging them so that the corrugations are at right angles to one another and securing them together by adhesive.

The cake-tray as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 is slightly larger than the cake for which it is to be used. The cake may be placed on this tray in the same manner in which it is placed on the former smooth-topped tray, and the 2,741,414 Patented Apr. 10, 1956 tray and cake placed in the usual cake-box B. When the tray extends beyond the bottom of the cake, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, it assists in keeping the cake away from the side-wall in the box. The cake cannot slide across the corrugations and is thus held against movement in that direction. As the cake-tray is alike top and bottom, it makes no difference which side up it is used. The corrugated plies are preferably made of nonabsorbent, greaseproof paper, as it is not affected by the cake nor does it affect the cake.

In the modified form of construction, Figs. 6, 7 and 8, the piece of corrugated material employed is larger than the cake which is to be supported and preferably of a size to fit the inside walls of the cake-box. As shown in these figures, the cake-tray T may be the same as that described in detail in the preceding figures. It is surrounded by a ring R made of the same material as the tray. In manufacturing these items it is preferable to die-cut the tray T and the ring R, completely severing them from one another. The severing action however is carried out in such a way that the tray T does not separate from the ring so that the two pieces may be handled as a unit until separation of the two parts is desired. In use the parts are separated, as indicated in Fig. 7. The ring R is placed in the bottom of the cakebox B and the cake is placed on the tray T. Here the dimension of the tray T is preferably no larger than the dimension of the cake. This makes it possible to trim the frosting down to the bottom of the tray. The,cake and tray T' may then be put in the cake-box in the usual manner, the tray T entering the hole in R. In this arrangement the cake is very securely held against moving out of position.

In the modified construction in Fig. 9, the tray T" is similar to the tray T, except that it is provided with a number of projections 20 which extend beyond the side of the cake. These projections are adapted to engage the walls of the cake-box to keep the cake from sliding.

Since it is obvious that the invention may be embodied in other forms and constructions within the scope of the claims, I wish it to be understood that the particular forms shown are but a few of these forms, and various modifications and changes being possible, I do not otherwise limit myself in any way with respect thereto.

What is claimed is:

l. A combined cake-supporting tray and aligning n'ng capable of use either side up and having on the upper and lower faces thereof sheets of paper with crossed corrugations which impart stiffness to the tray and roughness for engagement with the bottom of the cake, the ring and tray being die-cut and being held together frictionally but readily separable so that the ring may be placed on the bottom of a cake-box and the tray with cake supported thereon placed in position to be centered by the ring.

2. A cake-tray capable of use either side up as the support of a cake of a predeterminedsize and configuration, the tray being of substantially the same size and configuration as the cake and having on its upper and lower faces sheets of paper with crossed corrugations which impart stiffness to the tray and roughness for engagement with the bottom of the cake resting thereon to resist sliding thereof across the supporting corrugations, and a peripheral ring of like corrugated material and of a size to receive the tray and adapted to act as a filler between the tray and side-walls of a cake-box of larger size than the cake so as to keep the cake out of contact with the side-walls.

3. A combined cake supporting tray and aligning ring comprising four sheets of paper, two being smooth and two being corrugated, one corrugation crossing the other 3 being-expend; the" coi'rugations imparting stifiness to -thetray and. roughness for engagement with the bot tom of the cake, the ring aniatray being die-cut and being held together in co-planar relationship solely by frictiemlirut readiIyseparaBfe-so that theringmaybe'placed orr the=bottom of a cakebux and them with cake supported thereon: plhce'd iir position to" be centered'by'the- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED ST PATENTS Hunt May 3, Derst Sept. 19, Hill Feb. 16,, Lenk Nov. 30, Fteund May 10, Bomberger Sept. 6, Berg: Jan. 26, Salkowit-z Jan. 11, 

